Who is CLASSYS’s Global Key Opinion Leader in Singapore?

Dr Sin Yong is a Global Key Opinion Leader for CLASSYS, the Seoul-headquartered medical aesthetics manufacturer behind Ultraformer MPT, Volnewmer and Secret Duo. In September 2026 CLASSYS and MedSystems — CLASSYS’s partner in Brazil, which hosted the programme at its São Paulo CLASSYS Academy — flew him from Singapore to share his clinical expertise: one day on Volnewmer monopolar radiofrequency and his VF Lift® protocol, a second day on Secret Duo and his 4K Body Lift high-definition sculpting protocol, working alongside Brazilian practitioners Dr Rogério Marques and Dr Ana Carbone. He also holds international KOL appointments with HIRONIC, DEKA, Fotona and ilooda, and practises at Orchard Road, Singapore.

Dr Sin Yong — CLASSYS Global Key Opinion Leader

Proprietary protocol

The VF Lift® with Volnewmer

Lift. Sculpt. Regeneration.

The VF Lift® — the Vertical Facelift — is a protocol I developed and have since presented internationally. It is not a device. It is a way of using one: a planned sequence of monopolar radiofrequency passes delivered along vertical vectors, tip by tip, region by region, against the direction in which that particular face has descended. Volnewmer is the platform it leads with, and it was the part of Day One the Brazilian specialists asked most about.

Lift

Against the direction of descent

Controlled heating causes collagen fibres to contract, and new collagen is laid down over the weeks that follow. What the vertical vector adds is direction: energy is delivered along the axis the face descended from, rather than uniformly across it. In published three-dimensional imaging of this device class, mid-cheek elevation of approximately 1.9 mm was recorded at one month (Kim, PRS Glob Open 2024, n=30).

Sculpt

Redistribution, not just tightening

A sculpted face is not simply a tighter one. In a 2026 clinical and preclinical study of this platform, midface volume rose while lower-face volume fell over eight weeks — the signature of tissue being repositioned rather than removed. That is exactly what the vertical vector is for: putting volume back where the face carried it, instead of where gravity has taken it.

Regeneration

The fat layer, treated as tissue worth keeping

Most lifting devices treat facial fat as a problem. The evidence for 6.78 MHz monopolar RF points the other way: animal histology has shown no adipocyte death at this frequency, and a 2026 study of 25 patients receiving five Volnewmer sessions reported an increase in facial subcutaneous fat thickness, which the author attributed to adipogenic remodelling. The study is small and single-centre, so I put it to the room as promising rather than proven — but it is the reason I treat the fat pads as something to preserve and stimulate, not sacrifice.

Individual results vary. The findings summarised above come from small published studies of this device class and are described here for clinical context, not as a promise of outcome. Suitability is assessed at consultation.

Read the full VF Lift protocol →

Day Two · 16 September 2026

Secret Duo — two modalities, one platform

Where Day One was about heat delivered across a broad field, Day Two was about heat delivered through a needle. Secret Duo pairs radiofrequency microneedling with a 1540 nm non-ablative fractional laser in a single system — which means the same session can address the scar and the skin around it without moving the patient to a second machine. The protocol I shared on it was my own: the 4K Body Lift, high-definition sculpting delivered point by point through the RF microneedling side of the platform.

Modality one

Radiofrequency microneedling

Gold-plated needles and motor-driven depth control — which is to say, a tool for selecting a tissue plane. The other half of that selection is a choice most physicians underrate: insulated or non-insulated. Insulated needles confine the thermal zone to the needle tip, sparing the epidermis — the safer choice in darker Fitzpatrick skin. Non-insulated needles heat along the full shaft, which is what you want when the target is a broad, shallow textural problem. Cartridges run from a single needle for periocular and individual acne lesions up to a 64-pin insulated tip covering 17.5 mm square.

Modality two

1540 nm fractional laser

A non-ablative fractional source, scanner-delivered, with 300 µm and 600 µm lens options and a sub-pulse stacking function that allows up to ten overlapping pulses per microthermal zone. Non-ablative means the epidermis stays intact — less downtime than a fractional CO₂ laser, at the cost of needing more sessions. Knowing which of those trade-offs a given patient should accept is the whole clinical skill.

What I emphasised most: the tissue plane. Not the device, not the settings — the depth at which the energy actually lands. The plane dictates the effect. Deposit energy in the reticular dermis and you get skin tightening. Deposit it at the fibrous septa and the interface with the superficial fat compartment, and you are remodelling fat architecture instead. Same handpiece, same machine, two completely different outcomes, separated by a millimetre or two of needle depth.

That is the discipline the whole of Day Two was built around, and it is why needle length, insulation and tumescent infiltration matter — each of them is a tool for putting the energy in the plane you chose, and keeping it out of the ones you did not. Decide the plane first. Everything else is downstream of that decision.

Dr Sin Yong demonstrating Secret Duo RF microneedling at the bedside with Brazilian specialists — At the bedside, Secret Duo

Dr Sin Yong presenting the 1540 nm Er:Glass laser specifications during the Secret Duo session — Working through the 1540 nm laser

Slide comparing insulated and non-insulated radiofrequency microneedling needles — Insulated vs non-insulated

Slide on needle depth and treatment plane selection — Needle depth and plane

Dr Sin Yong planning treatment depth with Brazilian specialists at the couch — Planning the plane

Pre-treatment vector and zone mapping marked on the face before Secret Duo treatment — Pre-treatment mapping

Dr Sin Yong demonstrating Secret Duo technique at the bedside while Brazilian specialists observe — Technique, shared at the bedside

The Day Two group observing a Secret Duo treatment — The full room

Dr Sin Yong with Dr Rogerio Marques at the CLASSYS Academy in Sao Paulo — With Dr Rogério Marques

Proprietary protocol · Day Two

The 4K Body Lift with Secret Duo

Define. Sculpt. Tighten.

The 4K Body Lift is the protocol I shared on Day Two — high-definition sculpting with Secret Duo. Where the VF Lift® works across a broad field with monopolar radiofrequency, the 4K Body Lift works point by point: insulated radiofrequency microneedles placed into mapped zones of compact, exercise-resistant fat, at the depth where the fibrous septa meet the superficial fat compartment. It is the clearest demonstration I know of the principle the whole day was built on — that the tissue plane, not the device, decides whether you tighten skin or remodel fat.

Define

Map first, treat second

High definition begins on the skin surface, with a marker. Every zone is mapped before a needle goes in — the lower and upper abdomen, the flanks, the inner and outer thigh, the upper arm, the submental and jawline region — because the contour you are sculpting is decided by where the energy is placed, not by how much of it there is. The pre-treatment mapping photographed on this page is the same discipline, applied to a face.

Sculpt

Energy at the septa, not across the field

Insulated needles release radiofrequency only at the exposed tip, so the thermal zone sits exactly where the motor-driven depth control put it: at the interface between the fibrous septa and the superficial fat. The aim there is targeted metabolic disruption of the adipocytes in that point zone and contraction of the septal scaffold that holds it — sculpting a defined line rather than thinning a whole area, which is what “high definition” means in practice.

Tighten

A second pass in a second plane

The same handpiece, set shallower, then treats the reticular dermis over the sculpted zone so that the skin follows the new contour rather than hanging over it. Where surface texture also needs work, the 1540 nm fractional laser is added in the same sitting. Two planes, two effects, one session — and the depth setting is the only thing that changed between them.

Individual results vary. The 4K Body Lift is a treatment protocol, not a device claim; the mechanism described here is how the energy is intended to act, not a promise of outcome. Suitability, treatment zones and the number of sessions are assessed at consultation.

Read the full 4K Body Lift protocol →

Straight answers

How Volnewmer and Secret Duo compare with the devices you already know

Nearly every patient who asks me about Volnewmer has already been quoted for Thermage FLX, Ultherapy PRIME or Ultraformer MPT somewhere else. Discussing these platforms abroad forces you to answer the comparison honestly, in front of physicians who own the competing machines and will correct you. So here is the same answer I gave in São Paulo, without the marketing.

The short version: these devices are not ranked on a single ladder. They deposit different energy, at different depths, in different tissue. Asking which is best is like asking whether a scalpel is better than a suture. The useful question is which target your face actually has.

Energy-based lifting and resurfacing platforms compared — mechanism, depth and clinical target
Device	Energy	Key spec	Main tissue target	Suited to
Volnewmer CLASSYS	Monopolar RF	6.78 MHz continuous, ≤115 W, continuous water cooling	Dermis & fibrous septa, broad volumetric heating	Laxity, contour, skin quality; the platform the VF Lift leads with
Thermage FLX Solta	Monopolar RF	6.78 MHz pulsed, cryogen spray cooling, AccuREP	Dermis, broad volumetric heating	Laxity and skin tightening; the long-established reference device
Oligio Jeisys	Monopolar RF	6.78 MHz, contact cooling	Dermis	Laxity; widely used across Korea and Singapore
XERF Lutronic	Monopolar RF	Dual-frequency 6.78 & 2 MHz	Dermis at 6.78 MHz; deeper bulk tissue at 2 MHz	Laxity where a deeper heating profile is wanted
Ultherapy PRIME Merz	Micro-focused ultrasound	Discrete coagulation points, visualised delivery	SMAS, 4.5 mm; dermis at 3.0 and 1.5 mm	Structural lifting at the SMAS; the ultrasound reference device
Ultraformer MPT CLASSYS	Micro-focused ultrasound	Micro Pulsed Technology, multiple transducer depths	SMAS and dermis, depth-selectable	Lifting with shorter treatment time; common across Asia
Secret Duo CLASSYS	RF microneedling + 1540 nm laser	Insulated & non-insulated needles; 300/600 µm lenses	Reticular dermis via needle; epidermis–papillary dermis via laser	Atrophic acne scars, texture, pores — scar and surrounding skin in one session
Sylfirm X Viol	RF microneedling	Pulsed and continuous wave modes	Dermis; vascular and pigmentary targets	Melasma-adjacent redness, rosacea, scars, texture
Morpheus8 InMode	RF microneedling	Coated needles to 7 mm (body), 4 mm (face)	Deep dermis and subdermal adipose	Deeper subdermal remodelling and contouring

Specifications are drawn from each manufacturer’s published literature and are stated for clinical comparison, not as a ranking. Device availability, registered indications and suitability differ by country and by patient; nothing here is a recommendation of one product over another.

Volnewmer vs Thermage: what is the difference?

Both are monopolar radiofrequency, both run at 6.78 MHz, and both aim at the same thing — heating the dermis enough to contract collagen now and lay down new collagen over the following months. If a clinic tells you one of them is a fundamentally different technology, that is not correct.

The engineering difference is how the skin surface is protected. Thermage FLX pulses the energy and protects the epidermis with a cryogen spray fired between pulses. Volnewmer emits continuously and cools continuously, with water circulating through the tip while the energy is being delivered.

That changes the rhythm of the treatment rather than the biology. Continuous cooling allows more passes with gradual heat accumulation instead of a smaller number of higher-energy pulses. In a randomised split-face trial of 22 patients (Roh et al., Ann Dermatol 2025), continuous water cooling was associated with lower reported procedural pain than cryogen spray cooling, at comparable efficacy. Thermage FLX, for its part, has by far the longer clinical track record and the larger body of published data — that counts for something real.

How I choose: for a patient who has tolerated Thermage badly, or who needs a lot of passes across a large area, the continuously cooled platform is usually the kinder session. For a patient who wants the device with the deepest published history, Thermage remains exactly that. Neither answer is universal.

Thermage vs Ultherapy, and HIFU vs Ultherapy — radiofrequency or ultrasound?

This is the comparison Singapore patients ask most, and the framing is usually wrong. Radiofrequency and focused ultrasound are not two brands of the same treatment.

Monopolar radiofrequency — Thermage FLX, Volnewmer, Oligio, XERF — heats a broad volume of tissue diffusely. Energy spreads through the dermis according to tissue impedance. It is well suited to skin laxity, crepiness, contour and overall skin quality across a wide area.

Micro-focused ultrasound — Ultherapy PRIME, Ultraformer MPT and other HIFU platforms — converges energy into small discrete coagulation points at a chosen depth, classically 4.5 mm at the SMAS. It is a structural intervention: it contracts a specific layer rather than warming everything above it. Ultherapy PRIME is the only platform in this class that lets the operator visualise the tissue plane before firing, which is a genuine advantage when precision at depth matters.

So the honest answer to is Ultherapy better than Thermage is that they treat different problems. A face whose issue is a descended SMAS will not be fixed by surface tightening. A face whose issue is diffuse laxity and poor skin quality will not be fixed by a grid of deep coagulation points. Most faces past forty have some of each — which is why a plan may stage both energies, while the VF Lift itself is monopolar radiofrequency applied along vertical vectors.

Can you do both? Yes, and in my practice that is the common answer rather than the exception. They are staged, not stacked in one sitting, and the order depends on which layer is doing the most damage to your profile.

Volnewmer vs Oligio vs XERF — comparing the monopolar RF field

Singapore’s monopolar radiofrequency market is no longer just Thermage. Oligio, XERF and Volnewmer are all in clinics here, all marketed as tightening devices, and the differences between them are narrower than the advertising suggests.

Oligio runs at the same 6.78 MHz with contact cooling, and is closest to Volnewmer in concept. XERF is the genuine outlier: it offers a second, lower frequency at 2 MHz alongside 6.78 MHz. Frequency governs where the heat goes — published modelling and animal histology comparing the two frequencies found that 6.78 MHz produced localised heating along the fibrous septa within subcutaneous fat, while 2 MHz produced broader, deeper bulk heating within the adipose tissue itself, with no adipocyte death observed at either setting (Ko et al., Lasers Med Sci 2025; study device was a competitor platform, so this is mechanism-level evidence rather than device-specific).

That distinction matters if you care about facial fat. A treatment that heats along the septa is working on the scaffolding that holds the fat pads in position. That is the mechanism the VF Lift is built around, and the reason I treat the fat compartments as structure to preserve rather than bulk to reduce.

How I choose: comfort over a long session and septal-level work point to the continuously cooled 6.78 MHz platform. A patient wanting deeper bulk heating is a different conversation, and occasionally a different device altogether.

Secret Duo vs Sylfirm X vs Morpheus8 — which RF microneedling system?

In Singapore the RF microneedling conversation usually starts with Sylfirm X, and internationally with Morpheus8. Secret Duo sits apart from both for one structural reason: it is the only one of the three that also carries a 1540 nm non-ablative fractional laser in the same platform. That means one session can treat the scar through the needle and the skin around it with the laser, without moving the patient to a second machine.

Needle depth and coating is where the three genuinely diverge. Morpheus8 reaches deepest — up to 7 mm on the body, 4 mm on the face — and is aimed at subdermal remodelling. Sylfirm X differentiates on its pulsed-wave mode, which is why it is reached for in vascular and pigment-adjacent conditions rather than pure texture. Secret Duo offers both insulated and non-insulated cartridges, which is the choice I spent half of Day Two on in São Paulo: insulated confines the thermal injury to the needle tip and spares the epidermis, generally the safer instrument in Fitzpatrick IV to VI; non-insulated heats along the whole shaft and suits broad, shallow textural work.

Be clear-eyed about the evidence. None of these platforms has a large body of device-specific randomised data. What exists is modality-level evidence: systematic reviews support radiofrequency microneedling for atrophic acne scarring, and separately support non-ablative fractional laser for resurfacing. Any comparison claiming one branded device is proven superior to another is reaching beyond the literature.

How I choose: depth of scar, Fitzpatrick type and whether the surrounding skin also needs resurfacing. Deep tethered scarring in lighter skin tolerates an aggressive deep-needle approach; the same protocol in darker skin invites pigmentation, and the insulated cartridge plus a conservative laser pass is the better plan.

Device names and specifications above are the trademarks and published claims of their respective manufacturers — Solta Medical, Merz Aesthetics, Jeisys, Lutronic, Viol and InMode — and appear here for clinical comparison only. Dr Sin Yong holds key opinion leader appointments with CLASSYS, HIRONIC, DEKA, FOTONA and ilooda; that interest is disclosed so you can weigh it.

Volnewmer, Secret Duo and how they compare — your questions

What is Volnewmer, and how does it work?

Volnewmer is CLASSYS’s monopolar radiofrequency system. It delivers continuous 6.78 MHz radiofrequency at up to 115 W through a water-cooled, gold-plated tip. The radiofrequency heats the dermis and the fibrous structure beneath it; collagen fibres contract immediately, and new collagen is laid down over the following weeks. Continuous water cooling protects the epidermis and, in a randomised split-face trial, produced significantly less procedural pain than cryogen-spray-cooled monopolar RF at comparable efficacy.

How is Volnewmer different from Thermage?

Both are monopolar radiofrequency devices in the same technology class, and both aim at skin tightening through controlled dermal heating. The principal engineering difference is cooling: Thermage uses a cryogen spray between pulses, while Volnewmer uses continuous contact water cooling at 6.78 MHz. In a randomised split-face trial of 22 patients (Roh et al., Ann Dermatol 2025), continuous water cooling was associated with lower reported procedural pain than cryogen spray cooling at comparable efficacy. Which approach suits you is a consultation question, not a specification question.

How does Volnewmer compare with Ultherapy, HIFU or Ultraformer MPT?

They are different energies doing different jobs. Focused ultrasound — Ultherapy, Ultraformer MPT and other HIFU platforms — deposits energy in small, discrete coagulation points at a set depth, which suits lifting at the SMAS. Monopolar radiofrequency heats a broad volume of tissue more diffusely, which suits skin quality, laxity and contour. They are complements rather than competitors; the VF Lift® itself is monopolar radiofrequency only and does not use focused ultrasound.

Does Volnewmer really increase facial fat?

The honest answer is: there is early evidence, and it is genuinely interesting, but it is not yet settled. A 2026 study of 25 patients who received five Volnewmer sessions at three-week intervals reported an increase in facial subcutaneous fat thickness on ultrasound, which the author interpreted as adipogenic remodelling rather than swelling. Separately, animal histology of 6.78 MHz monopolar radiofrequency has shown no adipocyte death. Taken together that supports treating this device class as fat-preserving and possibly fat-stimulating. But the study was small, single-centre and had no control arm, so it should be read as a promising signal rather than a guaranteed effect.

What is Secret Duo used for?

Secret Duo combines radiofrequency microneedling with a 1540 nm non-ablative fractional laser in one platform. The microneedling side is used for atrophic acne scarring, enlarged pores, textural irregularity and skin laxity; the fractional laser side for resurfacing and overall skin quality. Both modalities are individually supported by published evidence for atrophic acne scarring. There are, at the time of writing, no published clinical trials of the Secret Duo device itself — the evidence base sits at the level of the two modalities, not the combined platform.

What is the difference between insulated and non-insulated RF microneedling needles?

An insulated needle is coated along its shaft so that radiofrequency energy is released only at the exposed tip. That confines the thermal injury to a precise depth and spares the epidermis and upper dermis — generally the safer choice in Fitzpatrick IV to VI skin, where the risk of post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation is higher. A non-insulated needle releases energy along its whole length, heating a column of tissue rather than a point, which is useful for broad, shallow textural work. Choosing between them is one of the more consequential decisions in an RF microneedling treatment.

What is the VF Lift?

The VF Lift, or Vertical Facelift, is Dr Sin Yong’s proprietary non-surgical lifting protocol. It runs on Volnewmer monopolar radiofrequency and does not use focused ultrasound, delivering energy along vertical vectors that oppose the direction in which the individual face has descended. It is a protocol rather than a device, and it has been presented at CLASSYS APAC in Bangkok and shared with CLASSYS Academy’s own team in São Paulo. Full details are here.

What is the 4K Body Lift, and how does it use Secret Duo?

The 4K Body Lift is Dr Sin Yong’s proprietary high-definition body sculpting protocol, and it was the protocol he shared on the Secret Duo day at CLASSYS Academy in São Paulo. It uses Secret Duo’s insulated radiofrequency microneedles, placed by motor-driven depth control into mapped point zones of compact, exercise-resistant fat at the level of the fibrous septa and superficial fat, then a shallower pass in the dermis to tighten the skin over the new contour. It is a protocol rather than a device: the same handpiece produces fat remodelling or skin tightening depending only on the tissue plane selected. Full details are here.

Where does Dr Sin Yong share his expertise with other physicians on these devices?

Internationally, at manufacturer academies and congresses. Recent invited engagements include CLASSYS Academy in São Paulo, Brazil (September 2026, Volnewmer and Secret Duo), the CLASSYS APAC Symposium in Bangkok, AMWC Asia–TDAC in Taipei, ilooda academies in Seoul and Dubai, and HIRONIC programmes in Seoul and Singapore. He is an international key opinion leader for CLASSYS, HIRONIC, DEKA, Fotona and ilooda.

Is CLASSYS a Korean company? Who distributes it in Brazil?

Yes. CLASSYS Inc. is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, was founded in 2007 and is listed on the KOSDAQ. Its portfolio includes Ultraformer MPT, Volnewmer, the Secret line and Aquapure, and it operates in more than seventy countries including Singapore. In Brazil its partner is MedSystems, São Paulo, which CLASSYS agreed to take a majority stake in during 2025 — and which hosts the CLASSYS Academy facility where these sessions took place.

What decides whether an energy device tightens skin or remodels fat?

The tissue plane the energy reaches. It is the single most important variable and it is decided before the machine is switched on. Energy delivered into the reticular dermis contracts collagen and produces skin tightening. Energy delivered deeper, at the fibrous septa and the interface with the superficial fat compartment, acts on fat architecture instead. The same device, the same handpiece and a similar setting can do either, separated by a millimetre or two of depth. Needle length, needle insulation, tip size, frequency and tumescent infiltration are all just means of putting the energy in the plane you chose and keeping it out of the ones you did not.

Thermage vs Ultherapy: what is the difference?

Thermage FLX uses monopolar radiofrequency, which heats a broad volume of dermis diffusely and addresses laxity, crepiness and skin quality across a wide area. Ultherapy PRIME uses micro-focused ultrasound, which converges energy into small discrete coagulation points at a chosen depth — classically 4.5 mm at the SMAS — making it a structural lift rather than a surface tightening. They target different layers, so neither is universally better. A descended SMAS will not respond to surface tightening, and diffuse skin laxity will not respond to a grid of deep coagulation points.

Can I do both Ultherapy and Thermage?

Yes, and combining radiofrequency with focused ultrasound is common rather than exceptional, because they act on different tissue layers. They are normally staged across separate sessions rather than performed in one sitting, and the sequence depends on which layer is contributing most to the appearance you want changed. The VF Lift protocol itself is monopolar radiofrequency only, applied along vertical vectors.

Ultherapy vs HIFU — are they the same thing?

Ultherapy is a brand of HIFU, not a separate technology. HIFU means high-intensity focused ultrasound; Ultherapy PRIME is Merz’s platform in that category, and Ultraformer MPT is CLASSYS’s. The practical differences between HIFU platforms are the transducer depths available, the pulse delivery method, treatment speed, and whether the operator can visualise the tissue plane before firing — Ultherapy PRIME is the one that offers visualisation. Asking “Ultherapy or HIFU” is really asking which HIFU platform.

What is the difference between Ultherapy and Ultherapy PRIME?

Ultherapy PRIME is the current-generation platform that has largely replaced the original Ultherapy system in Singapore clinics. Merz describes improvements in imaging clarity, treatment speed and comfort over the earlier device. Both deliver micro-focused ultrasound with visualisation; if a clinic is quoting you for “Ultherapy” in 2026, it is worth asking which generation of the machine they actually operate.

Ultraformer MPT vs Ultherapy — how do they compare?

Both are micro-focused ultrasound lifting platforms targeting the SMAS and dermis. Ultherapy PRIME’s distinguishing feature is real-time visualisation of the tissue plane. Ultraformer MPT’s is Micro Pulsed Technology, which delivers shorter pulses and generally a faster, better-tolerated session, with selectable transducer depths. Ultherapy carries the larger Western evidence base; Ultraformer MPT is more widely used across Asia. Dr Sin Yong shares his expertise on Ultraformer MPT internationally as a CLASSYS key opinion leader, which is disclosed here as an interest.

Volnewmer vs Oligio vs XERF — what separates them?

All three are monopolar radiofrequency devices. Volnewmer and Oligio both operate at 6.78 MHz; Volnewmer’s distinguishing feature is continuous emission with continuous water cooling at the tip. XERF is the outlier because it offers a second frequency at 2 MHz. Frequency governs where heat is deposited — published modelling found 6.78 MHz produced localised heating along the fibrous septa within subcutaneous fat, while 2 MHz produced broader, deeper bulk heating within the fat itself, with no adipocyte death at either setting. If preserving and working through the fat-pad scaffolding matters to the plan, that distinction is the one worth understanding.

Sylfirm X vs Morpheus8 vs Secret Duo — which RF microneedling device?

Morpheus8 reaches deepest, up to 7 mm on the body and 4 mm on the face, and is aimed at subdermal remodelling. Sylfirm X differentiates on its pulsed-wave mode, which is why it is chosen for vascular and pigment-adjacent conditions rather than pure texture. Secret Duo is the only one of the three that also carries a 1540 nm non-ablative fractional laser in the same platform, and offers both insulated and non-insulated cartridges. None of the three has a large body of device-specific randomised data; the published evidence sits at modality level, supporting RF microneedling for atrophic acne scarring generally. Choice should follow scar depth and Fitzpatrick type, not brand.

Is RF microneedling different from ordinary microneedling?

Yes, substantially. Ordinary microneedling creates mechanical micro-injuries that trigger a wound-healing response in the upper dermis. Radiofrequency microneedling adds a thermal injury delivered from the needle itself at a controlled depth, which remodels collagen in the reticular dermis rather than only the surface. That added thermal component is why RF microneedling has better evidence for atrophic acne scarring and laxity, and also why needle insulation and depth control matter so much more.

Can I have the VF Lift or Secret Duo treatment in Singapore?

Yes — Dr Sin Yong performs both personally at Orchard Road, Singapore. Every plan begins with an assessment, because the right answer is sometimes neither of them. You can reach the clinic on WhatsApp at +65 8023 7170.

Medically reviewed by Dr Sin Yong, MBBS (NUS), MRCS (Edinburgh) · Last updated 19 September 2026 · Editorial policy

Global Key Opinion Leader
for CLASSYS

Who is CLASSYS’s Global Key Opinion Leader in Singapore?

An honour, and a long way to carry it

Volnewmer — monopolar radiofrequency, in detail